Miles To Go
by Silverspoon
Summary: For Skychaser  FAGE .Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to Forks when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does she know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU/AH.
1. Chapter 1

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

_**Chapter One**_

'_**The Hitch-Hiker'**_

_**Bella's POV**_

Cullen was a total asshole; albeit a kind of ruggedly sexy asshole but an asshole none the less. He was the type of guy who could melt a girl's panties with a single look but once he had charmed his way into said panties, he would drop off the radar like he had been swallowed up by the Bermuda Triangle. Cullen achieved consistently good grades despite a record of attendance that should have hinted at a promising career in the janitorial field. Mostly this was down to the fact that he could bully and bribe the best and brightest at Paradise Valley High School into completing most of his assignments for him.

Despite this, Edward Cullen was one of the most revered guys in the entire school. With a shock of copper coloured hair that a scarecrow would envy and a penchant for getting high on every day ending with a 'y', Cullen should have been a mere blip on the social radar. However, money talks and on occasions, screams. And money was something that Edward was certainly not lacking. Every year since he had passed Driver's Ed. (the one class he had no choice but to take himself), Edward had owned a shiny Volvo; always silver and always the latest sports model driven straight off the forecourt. His father Carlisle was the chief of surgery at Paradise Valley Hospital and his mother was some eccentric but highly paid interior designer. The family lived in what was considered the wealthy part of town; a fact that Edward and his sister Rosalie were not shy about advertising.

The guys wanted to _be_ him and the girls- well, the girls mostly wanted to be under him. Edward was more than happy to oblige that one. Ass-hole.

Yet here I was driving the guy just over a thousand miles for no good reason other than I had failed to recognise the lanky, slightly slumped figure at the side of the highway as his. And boy was I mad as hell at myself for that mistake.

I hunkered down over the steering wheel of my mom's Chevy Aveo, which Cullen had eyed with disdain as soon as it had crawled to a stop beside him. He had sported an over stuffed duffel and an unimpressed air that from a distance I had found oddly alluring. Wearing a white shirt that hugged his somewhat defined abs and with a pair of designer sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose, Cullen had looked kind of like a movie star. This was perhaps my one and only reason for experiencing a sudden urge to commit a charitable act by offering a lift to a stranger, who my logic told me could turn out to be any manner of psychopath.

"Don't I know you?" had been his opening line, head angled and lips twisted upwards into a cocksure smile. My heart had lurched, my cheeks instantly reddened, and my 'nerd gene' kicked in with full force.

"Cullen..." I had managed to choke out, my voice cracking somewhere in the middle.

"No, that would be me," he replied, his expression patient but tone condescending, "Isabella Swan, right?"

I had nodded, helpless to do much else, and watched instead with horror as Edward had pulled open the passenger side door and tossed his bag onto the back seat before joining me in the front.

I simply glared at him as he adjusted the front seat in order to accommodate his legs, which were considerably longer than those of the average biped. Although the car belonged to my Mom, within the last year I had become its main driver. This was in part due to my Mom's guilt at refusing to let me bring my old Chevy truck from Forks when I moved back the previous school year. Although my heart would always find its home in Phoenix, I had loved the sleepy little town of Forks. It was cold, wet and green; three attributes that I did not commonly find appealing but somehow Forks was different.

I had been sixteen when my Mom had first suggested that I might be better off living with my Dad. Charlie had recently been promoted to Chief of police, whilst in contrast my Mom had been laid off due to staffing cuts at the gallery she worked at. We were in real financial trouble and although Charlie had offered to help, my Mom had been stubborn in accepting money from her ex. Instead, it had been decided on my behalf that I would leave my home and friends in Phoenix to live with Charlie in Forks until Renee was back on her feet again. I had screamed and rebelled as only a sixteen year old girl can, and just generally made life unbearable for both of my parents. Regardless of my protests within a week I was on my way to Washington with a single suitcase of belongings and an attitude so big my Mom had joked that I should really check it at the baggage terminal.

Charlie had pulled out all the stops to make me feel at home, including redecorating the room that had once served as my nursery. This was no small gesture given that Charlie had left every aspect of the house as it had been since he and my Mom divorced shortly after I was born. I was grateful yet unwaveringly sullen.

My father's biggest peace offering had arrived several months later in the form of my Chevy truck. The thing was a sheer monster; a classic, shining red example of how they don't make vehicles the way they used to. From the moment Billy Black and his son had driven the truck onto Charlie's drive, I had fallen in love; and not just with my new set of wheels.

At nineteen, Jacob Black was a couple of years my senior but his father and mine were such old friends that our relationship was celebrated. Charlie termed Jake 'a good kid', which ordinarily would have been the kiss of death for any relationship a teenager may have been contemplating. Jake had been studying mechanical engineering at MIT on a football scholarship when Billy had his accident. A stray bullet during a hunting trip had severed his spinal cord and rendered him paralysed from the waist down. Jake had returned home within the week to care for his father, forfeiting his future in the process. Jake knew enough about cars to secure himself a part time job at a local garage in town and, whenever ends didn't quite meet, the people of the reservation were always quick to lend a hand. My Dad did what he could by way of keeping Billy company and donating his old sports DVDs to save his boredom, but the Quileutes were a proud people, reluctant to accept charity from any but their own.

As soon as Charlie had heard that Billy was planning on selling the old Chevy, he had Jake start work rebuilding the engine for me. It sure wasn't the typical ride for your average American teenage girl but thanks to Renee's influence I could never really be described as 'average'.

Whilst my Dad and Billy headed inside, Jake offered to show me round my new truck and like any girl with eyes would, I accepted. Within half an hour of our first meeting we were already arranging our first date, which turned out to be nothing more glamorous than a cup of coffee on Jake's sofa whilst his Dad slept in the next room. Not that I had been bothered. Jake was a fascinating person, from his extensive knowledge of cars to his love of music and his ability to eat a sixteen inch pizza in one sitting. He was easy to be around and always smiling despite the latest crap that life decided to throw at him. In eighteen months together I only ever saw Jake get mad once and even then his temper was so naturally mild that I laughed outright. In short, he was the perfect boyfriend.

We spent almost every waking moment together with the added bonus that neither of our parents seemed to mind much. I made few friends during my time in Forks and though my social life was embarrassing, none of that mattered when I was with Jake.

Three months before my eighteenth birthday, Renee married a minor league baseball player by the name of Phil. Jake and I flew out to Phoenix together for the ceremony, and it was whilst we were there that my Mom decided to drop her bombshell. She and Phil were expecting a baby and, out of some misplaced sense of guilt, Renee wanted me in Phoenix with them; one big, fake happy family. I pleaded my case to them all, deciding that maturity would probably serve me better than one of my customary tantrums. However, no amount of reasoning, logic or dignified snivelling managed to change Renee's mind. I was ordered home to Phoenix within a month, leaving behind my boyfriend, my happiness and my life.

Almost twelve months later, I was finally making my way back to Forks with a smile so big on my face that anyone would think I had won the lottery. Sure, I felt a little bad about leaving behind Phil, Renee and my new baby brother, but I had held up my end of the bargain and graduated high school first. My original plan had been to return to Forks and take a gap year in order to work out my future, but whatever that would be I knew that Jake would most definitely be in it. Every day that we had been apart, Jake had written to me. I had saved each letter, pouring over them under my covers with a flashlight when it was gone midnight and I couldn't sleep. I had felt like a child covertly reading comic books when they should be sleeping but Jake's letters and calls were the only things that had gotten me through my time in Phoenix. I loved my Mom more than anything and Phil was a great guy, but none of that could fill the void that leaving Jake behind had created in my life.

As Cullen fastened his seatbelt, I threw the car into gear and it lurched forwards. Our bodies were flung back against the seats and I grimaced, ignoring the look that Cullen shot me over the rim of his sunglasses. I gritted my teeth and mentally counted to ten to prevent from exploding the way I had become accustomed to of late.

We had been driving a good half hour in total silence before I had considered asking Cullen where he was headed. I peered over at my passenger who had settled back against his seat with both hands hooked behind his head and his feet propped on the dashboard. I cleared my throat pointedly but Cullen simply glanced at me with a small smile playing across his lips. My grip on the wheel tightened and I growled under my breath, although he appeared not to mind my hostility.

"Where is it you're looking to be?" I demanded, my voice more controlled than I would have thought possible. Cullen was capable of pushing by buttons by mere proximity.

"Seattle," Cullen replied, raking one hand through his tousled hair before inquiring, "That is on your way, right?"

"Unfortunately," I grumbled, simply flashing Cullen a wan smile before returning my attention to the highway which was almost devoid of other traffic. Briefly I considered asking him to chip in for gas, knowing that he was more than good for the funds. However, the sense of courtesy that Renee had worked so hard to instil in me prevented me from doing as much. I sighed, wondering if it would be at all possible to drive twenty four hours straight without rest stops and bathroom breaks.

"I gotta piss," Cullen volunteered, shattering my thoughts to oblivion. My knuckles whitened as I gripped the wheel tighter and resisted the urge to grind my teeth. Cullen dug one hand into the pockets of his jeans and retrieved a somewhat mangled cigarette butt which he placed between his lips.

"Then why didn't you go whilst you were waiting at the side of the road?" I demanded, my tone tart and lips curling into a snarl. Cullen seemed oblivious to my snarky mood or perhaps merely assumed that this was my permanent countenance.

"No smoking in my car," I snapped, watching Cullen from the corner of my eye as he fished around in his jacket for a lighter. He paused in his task, rolled his eyes, and slipped the unlit butt back into his pocket. My shoulders relaxed a little and I released a deep, cleansing breath that Renee and her devotion to yoga would have been proud of.

"You mind if I turn on the radio?" he asked, his fingers already busy twiddling the little knobs. I resisted the urge to slam my own head against the wheel and simply shrugged. There was a loud crackle of static hum before Cullen finally settled on a station playing some kind of heavy rock that threatened to make my ears bleed. I winced and Cullen simply turned up the volume before sagging against his seat again.

This was going to be a long drive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

**Chapter Two**

'_**The Apple Pie Life'**_

_**Bella's POV**_

I gulped down my recently purchased mug of black coffee and shot an irritated glance at the clock above the counter. After no less than three hours of Cullen's whining I had finally pulled over to allow him to take a leak. Secretly I had enjoyed watching him squirm in his seat, until his threats of staining my upholstery had become a little too real for comfort. Finally I had decided that Cullen's suffering had been sufficient and I had pulled into the parking lot of the first diner we stumbled across. The entire place looked like a strong case for the Department of Health but I was now several states passed the point of caring. One hundred and eighty minutes in a confined space with Edward Cullen was enough to do that to anyone.

I peered at the clock again, wondering what exactly could have occupied Cullen in the bathroom for the last fifteen minutes. Shuddering, I immediately regretted the thought and grimaced. Thankfully, mere seconds later Cullen sauntered back to our table and flashed me a winning smile that I met with a sigh.

"Get lost in the five feet between the restroom and the table?" I asked, scanning the menu with a frown before deciding that starvation was preferable to clogged arteries.

"Nah," Cullen replied with a wink as he pushed a piece of paper across the counter to me. I glanced at the greasy white square which I realised was actually a napkin with a series of numbers scrawled across it in biro.

"You gotta be kidding me?" I demanded, my anger threatening to bubble up to the surface. I swallowed hard in an effort to dispel it and leaned across the table so that my face was mere inches away from Cullen's. He seemed to find only amusement in my outrage.

"We've been in this town twenty minutes and you're already taking down girls' numbers?" I hissed, pushing my dark bangs away from my face as they obscured my vision. "We're not staying you know."

Cullen's expression remained serious and he inclined his head towards the counter where I could see a red-headed waitress with braces watching us intently. She looked to be several years younger than us at least and I was vaguely shocked by Cullen's gall.

"She thinks you're my kid sister so don't go shattering any illusions," he murmured, all the emphasis placed on the word 'kid'. I snarled and scrabbled desperately for a comeback but before the words could form on my lips the waitress had sashayed over to our table. She slid a large slice of apple pie towards Edward, who beamed at the girl and winked. This evoked a giggle that almost caused me to dry wretch on the table but neither of the lovebirds appeared to notice. She was hardly Cullen's usual type, all tombstone teeth and knobbly knees as opposed to flat out runway gorgeous. Cullen may have been rumoured to be a sex craved pervert, but he was a selective one at least.

"It's on the house Eddie," the girl purred in an attempt at a seductive tone. My lips twitched at the corners but I managed to thwart the threat of an openly mocking smile. The girl lingered several seconds longer, twisting a strand of almost orange hair around her finger and staring at Cullen with a glazed expression I had seen a hundred times before.

"Thank you love," Edward said huskily, watching the waitress' retreating figure in a pantomime of appraisal that was obvious to me. Cullen leant back against the booth with a contented sigh and stuck a fork through the centre of the pie, cutting it into two equal sized wedges. I shook my head in disbelief.

"Dig in Belles," he enthused, forking pie and whipped cream into his open maw. His emerald green eyes widened to impossible proportions as he chewed on his prize. "Shit this is some good pie!"

I screwed up my nose in disgust and wiped away the crumbs that had flown from Cullen's lips.

"I don't eat pie," I spat, staring at the plate with loathing, "and even if I did, I wouldn't be prostituting myself for it in a sleazy diner in the middle of nowhere."

"Suit yourself," Cullen replied with a shrug before pulling the plate closer and demolishing the dessert in less than seven bites. I continued to nurse my coffee, all the while shooting bitter glances between Cullen and the waitress that, if caught, would make our sibling bond somewhat questionable.

"And don't call me Belles," I added as an afterthought as I watched Cullen wipe his mouth on the serviette that contained the waitress' number. He screwed the now dirty paper into a ball before tossing it over his shoulder where it landed in a trash can. My mouth dropped open and I gazed at Cullen, appalled.

"What?" he demanded, his expression stoic, "you said yourself, we're not staying."

I closed my mouth, unable to find a response that adequately displayed my disgust. Cullen simply grinned, looking for all the world like the cat that got the canary.

x-x-x

Another half hour of silence followed our brief rest stop, for which I was grateful. Although the tension between us was somewhat awkward, it was preferable to attempting to make small talk with a guy so much my opposite it was almost funny. The situation with the waitress had inexplicably infuriated me. I assumed that I somehow perceived her as being taken advantage of by an almost predatory figure, and chalked my outrage up to as much.

Cullen seemed at ease with the blare of the radio for company and so I was surprised when his voice speared my thoughts.

"So where is it that you're going Belles?" he asked, his eyes trained straight ahead on the horizon in a manner that served to irritate me further. I managed to bite back a 'none of your damned business' just in time and instead replied with a degree of civility.

"Washington," I answered, my eyes never once wavering from the interstate. I pretended to study my mirror, hoping that Cullen would take the hint and reduce himself once more to mere eye candy.

"What's in Washington?" he continued, unperturbed. I had to at least give him points for his resilience.

"The National Mall," I replied tersely, flexing my fingers on the wheel and hiding a smirk.

"You got a major shoe craving or something?" asked Cullen, his tone innocent enough. My eyes widened and I turned to survey him only to be met by a wolfish grin. Groaning, I turned back to the interstate which was growing steadily busier as the time marched on towards rush hour.

"Now really," Culled said, his chin resting in his palm, "why are you headed to Washington?"

"Why are you headed to Seattle?" I countered, my determination to be secretive unwavering. Cullen shrugged and glanced down at his perfectly manicured fingernails.

"I got a cousin in Seattle plays guitar pretty good. We're starting a band, playing the club circuit for a year or so until we can work up to some studio time and maybe a break in L.A."

"I would have thought your Dad could buy you a recording studio," I scoffed, my tone mocking and tinged with more derision than I would have liked. Cullen simply glanced out of the window, traces of a smile playing across his lips. He shrugged and then returned his attention to me.

"Perhaps he could."

I nodded and swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable with my own attitude. Sure I didn't owe Cullen any favours, and he was a jerk of the highest degree, but the guy had never done anything to hurt me directly.

"I'm going to see my Dad," I blurted, feeling my cheeks redden as Cullen's intense gaze was upon me once again. I finished with a stammer, "In Forks. He's Chief of police there, and for a while I lived with him."

Cullen appraised me for a few seconds, perhaps attempting to gauge if it was safe to continue the conversation. When I made no move to tear his head off, he took a deep breath.

"How come you moved back?" he asked, his interest apparently peaked.

"It's complicated," I replied, striving to maintain a more neutral tone. "Family stuff mostly. But I was happy there, so I guess I'm going back."

"No big college plans?" he pressed, one eyebrow raised in questioning. I simply shook my head, aware that it would seem odd that the class valedictorian had not yet settled on any definite plans. I had been receiving the same 'look' from my Mom and teachers for the last six weeks of high school. They were concerned by my apparent lack of aspirations for my future, although I had no immediate desire to assuage their fears.

"I guess not," I replied simply, a small but genuine smile finding its way to my lips. Cullen studied me for several more seconds, his eyes narrowed, before breaking his gaze and beginning to toy with the radio again. I blinked in surprise as the heavy rock beat subsided to the mellower thrum of string instruments. The heavy thumping in my temples that had started up along with the radio began to ebb away and I shot Edward a relieved look.

"My boyfriend's back in Forks too," I exclaimed, instantly regretting the words as soon as they had been spoken. Cullen glanced at me sharply and then nodded, a sudden knowing expression darkening his features.

"Hence the lack of plans," he guessed, shaking his head with a smirk that caused me to bristle.

"I don't have plans because I don't want to have plans," I insisted, combing one hand through my hair. Cullen ran the tip of his tongue over the surface of his perfectly white teeth, the bottom row of which I noted with surprise were slightly crooked. I would have figured that a guy as concerned with appearances as Cullen would have had that imperfection fixed long ago.

"Sure," Cullen replied in a patronising tone, "although some would say you're blatantly throwing away your future to run back to lover boy with your tail between your legs before he jumps the next hot little piece of ass that he meets. Thereby, you are condemning yourself to the small town life with a small town guy who has an undoubtedly small town mentality."

My jaw set in irritation, and I swung the wheel to the left, changing lines with such force that Cullen's body was slammed against the passenger door. A thrill of triumph coursed through me as from the corner of my eye I watched Cullen rub a tender spot below his elbow.

"Why are you being such a jerk?" I demanded, not bothering to mask the hostility in my voice now. "I'm hauling your pathetic tail nearly a thousand miles, out of the goodness of my heart, and all you can do is sit there and take a swipe at me because I'm not going to college?"

"So you admit that it's not that you don't want to?" he asked instantly. I blinked in surprise, momentarily taking my eyes off the traffic ahead in order to bestow Cullen with a bemused stare.

"That would have been the point that most guys offered to chip in for gas," I helpfully supplied, shaking my head and chuckling dryly. Cullen seemed unabashed.

"Sure, I can give you a couple of bucks," he said, clearly bored. It almost seemed as though money was some great inconvenience that he simply bore on a daily basis. I supposed that to those who had it in abundance, money did quickly lose its overall attraction. I thought again of Jake and his father who struggled so much that they had a stack of final demand notices propping up the wonky leg on their coffee table. My heart ached and I dug the nails of one hand into my thigh in order to centre myself.

Cullen cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Just don't go getting yourself knocked up or anything. Then your life would really be over. "

Outraged, I tugged on the wheel once again and pulled the car over into a convenient rest stop. A cloud of dust was tossed up by my tyres, filling the air around us, but I hardly noticed as I affixed Cullen with my most deadly glare.

His words had both shocked and infuriated me, but the degree of contempt with which they had been spoken was something else entirely. Cullen met my gaze with his chin raised in defiance.

"How dare you," I seethed, my anger beginning to get the better of me once again, "how dare you judge us when you know nothing about us."

"Then tell me," he answered, not even blinking under the weight of my stare.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," I hissed.

"Then don't."

Silence dropped between us like a thick veil. I peered at Cullen for several seconds and when he showed no signs of backing off, I let out a defeated sigh. Cullen settled against his seat and we both knew he had won this one.

"I'm only going back for a little while," I spoke grudgingly, anger still staining the edges of my voice, "Jake's dad is... he's in a wheel chair. Jake left school to take care of him. He's a great guy and he'd never... he's only ever wanted the best for my future. He loves me and I love him. For once, I just want to spend a little time with the people that matter. Is that so wrong?"

Cullen gazed at me analytically and shook his head, offering me a small smile at the same time. He dug into the pockets of his jeans and fished out a twenty dollar bill that was so rumpled it looked as though it had been through the laundry several times. Cullen slapped the note on the dashboard, flashed me a grin that I could not interpret, and then turned to look out of the window.

I sat unmoving for a second or two, wondering what had occurred, before easing my foot back onto the accelerator. The moment, whatever it had been, had clearly passed and I was eager to cover as many miles before sunset as was humanly possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

**Chapter Three**

'**Bright Lights and Road Roar'**

_**Bella's POV**_

Cullen snored like a pig, which I should have figured really since pretty much everything he did was obnoxious in some way. Something about hearing the loud, animalistic snorts coming from the sleeping Adonis-like figure was so very wrong, and yet I briefly considered recording the whole thing on my cell phone. My motivation of course was the prospect of posting it at a later date on YouTube and hoping that I could dent his mammoth ego just a little. However, the idea was quickly dismissed since it was taking all of my effort to keep my eyelids from closing. I figured that any attempt to add holding a camera into the mix would surely end in disaster. The highway up ahead was deserted and so I hazarded a glance at the clock on the dash, which informed me that the time was fast approaching midnight.

I had been driving for ten hours in total since my departure from Phoenix that morning. The last rest stop I had taken had been back at the diner and in my effort to plough through the journey in record time, I had since stubbornly refused to pull over for anything other than gas. Cullen had been subdued since his earlier outburst, never apologising as such but steering the conversation into less treacherous waters. We talked music, travel, food, and sports, but never anything so controversial that it may end in conflict. I was surprised to discover that many of our tastes were similar, including our mutual and admittedly obscure appreciation of Hammer House of Horror movies. The conversation had come to a natural halt a few hours ago.

Using his duffel bag as a makeshift pillow, Cullen had fallen into a deep slumber within minutes. I had to admire his ability to shut off so quickly. My own mind seemed to race for hours past the point of my body crying out for sleep. I had experimented with numerous pills over the months as well as the usual warm bath and hot drink routines. Nothing short of a couple of heavy duty tranquilisers had as of yet proved successful. However, Renee had kicked up a fuss after a while about her daughter 'self medicating' and my pills had been flushed down the toilet, quite literally. Instead, I lay awake in the darkness, listening to the sounds of traffic from the ever busy street outside, and turned over my thoughts again and again.

Cullen let out a rousing chorus of snorts before mumbling something incoherent and then swiping at his nose with a balled up fist. A lock of reddish hair had fallen in front of his face and was tickling his nostrils. I giggled and then bit down on my bottom lip to keep from making too much noise. Despite the inhuman sounds escaping him, Edward seemed peaceful and I was reluctant to wake him. Carefully, I reached across my seat and brushed the piece of hair away, my fingertips sliding across the sculptured curve of his cheekbone. In his sleep, Edward smiled; not the arrogant and infuriating grin that I had come to loathe, but instead a soft and warm subtle curve of his lips that caused my hammering heart to still in my chest. He really was beautiful. Suddenly, I withdrew my hand and placed it back on the wheel, pierced by guilt as my thoughts turned to Jake.

Cullen was not the sort of guy I wanted to get mixed up with, of that I was confident. I only had to think of my brushes with his sister to know that.

x-x-x

_I was already late for fifth period but by this point the call of nature was practically a scream that I was frightened to ignore. The second floor girls' bathroom was located several feet from my Spanish class and so I figured that I wouldn't be overly late if I made a quick pit stop on my way. It was only my second week back at Paradise Valley High and I had already accumulated more tardy slips than the average student did in a whole semester. Renee was on my back big time about dropping my attitude and I had promised Jake during his last call that I would make a small effort to please her so she didn't cut our contact all together. _

_Before I had even emerged from my cubicle, the main door swung open and slammed hard against the wall. The sounds of sobbing were obvious and interspersed by the kind of hiccups caused by someone distraught attempting to catch their breath in the middle of a killer crying jag. I paused, my hand on the lock, wondering if it would be better for me to stay concealed or to reveal myself and offer some comfort to whoever was in a puddle on the restroom floor. A glance at my watch aided my decision and, taking a deep breath, I slipped out of the cubicle. _

"_A-are you o-okay?" I stammered, feeling dumb for even asking the question. When a girl cries the way this one was, she clearly was a couple of stop signs away from 'ok'. My eyes focused on the back of a slim blonde figure, who hunched over the counter with trembling shoulders. The girl barely acknowledged my presence and so I approached the sinks to wash my hands. _

"_You got a light?" _

_I froze, recognizing the voice instantly. I stared askance at Rosalie Cullen who was watching me with an expectant expression spread across a tearstained face. Even in the midst of her obvious devastation she looked like a supermodel, all high chiselled cheekbones and smooth golden hair. Her complexion was near flawless but her tears had caused a thick track of black mascara to ink down her cheeks. Dumbly, I shook my head as my eyes ticked to the unlit cigarette that she held in her right hand. Sighing, Rosalie jammed the cigarette back into her pocket._

"_Should I get someone for you?" I inquired, wiping my now wet hands on the legs of my pants. Rosalie dabbed delicately at her ruined makeup with a tissue and I watched her with evident curiosity. Rosalie was the captain of the cheerleading squad and the younger sister of Edward Cullen, probably one of the most desirable and wealthy guys in the entire school. Rosalie was one of those people that always seemed surrounded by a tribe of adoring followers who hung off her every word, no matter how inane it may be. She was dating Emmett McCarty, a linebacker on the football team who was built like a grizzly with an attitude to match. The idea of hauling him to the girls' bathroom to deal with his hysterical girlfriend did not fill me with joy. Secretly, I was hoping that the issue was something that could be fixed with a tampon and a bar of Mr. Big._

_Thankfully, Rosalie shook her head, her lip curling into a sneer._

"_No, thank you," she replied, her tone polite but her countenance furious, "they couldn't care less."_

"_I'm sorry," I replied almost on instinct. It was all I could think of and mostly a gut reaction but I winced at how lame I sounded. Rosalie glanced at me, her expression one of surprise, and for just a moment she graced me with a small smile. Her whole face seemed younger with the gesture, which was all too fleeting. _

"_Do you wanna talk?" I asked after a moment's hesitation. I never expected her to take me up on the offer. It wasn't as if we ran with the same crowd. In fact, my current cool factor was teetering on the precipice of making me chess club material. Rosalie seemed to ponder the proposition for a while, still scrubbing her spoiled makeup from her skin. When she was finished she balled up the tissue and tossed it towards a trash can. _

"_He thought I'd never find out, apparently," she spat, sniffling as she fought to contain a second overspill of tears. _

"_Oh," was my only reply as I watched Rosalie begin to reapply lip gloss from a tube she pulled out of her book bag. The liquid was almost cerise in colour and would have looked ridiculous on any other woman._

"_My best friend," she seethed, her voice rising an octave despite her attempts at composure. I noted her hand shaking as she worked but despite this her makeup came out flawless. "My best fucking friend."_

_I racked my brain hard as I attempted to recall exactly who Rosalie was talking about. I had most often seen her with a diminutive girl named Alice, who sported a short but chic spiky haircut and a personality that hinted she should have been on Ritalin. As far as I was aware, Alice was hooking up with a guy named Jasper who played guitar in some band and was one of those 'serious' musicians who walked around looking like he was constipated to make the girls hot for him. _

"_Can you believe it?" Rosalie demanded, one eyebrow arched in my direction. I shook my head, aware that my mouth was open a little. Rosalie seemed not to notice and continued with her tirade instead, "That dick. I gave him everything, and this is how he repays me?"_

"_Sucks," I murmured, hoping my tone was suitably sympathetic. I was now beginning to get a fairly clear idea of what was bothering Rosalie and I cast my gaze nervously towards the floor. _

"_He's been screwing around with her behind my back for weeks," Rosalie hissed, her eyes practically slits now as she peered at me. _

"_How... how did you find out?" I asked. I chewed nervously on my bottom lip as I awaited a response. _

"_It doesn't matter," Rosalie replied dismissively, beginning to fling her makeup back into her bag. She tossed her blonde mane over her shoulder and my heart ached for her just a little. _

"_You deserve more than him you know," I said softly, jamming my hands into my pocket in a gesture that looked awkward. Rosalie paused and turned to regard me with her head cocked. I continued, "You could have any guy in this school you want and you're wasting your time on a loser like him."_

"_So you believe it then?" Rosalie muttered, staring thoughtfully at the tiled floor as she turned my words over in her mind. _

"_I..." I hesitated and then the words suddenly spilled from my lips in a rush that I had little control over. "I saw them about a week ago. I was out with my mom for dinner and they were holding hands in the line for the movies. They kind of... kissed and stuff."_

_I trailed off, knowing that Rosalie did not need me to illustrate for her exactly what 'stuff' entailed. It had been my Mom who had in fact noticed the overtly friendly couple in line for the movies. Their hands were interlaced tightly and their bodies pressed close, lips meeting at intervals. It had taken me a few moments to put names to the faces but as Emmett McCarty had slipped his hand inside the back pocket of Alice Brandon's jeans I had recognised the pair. It was obvious that they were together in a more than friendly capacity and I had been surprised by their audacity. The petting had risen to the kind of proportions that had made me uncomfortable and I had looked away before they started removing layers of clothing in the street. _

_Rosalie continued to stare at the floor, her expression unreadable._

"_You're better off without a guy like that," I said, a lump suddenly rising in my throat as I awaited a response from Rosalie, "and a so-called friend who'd do that to you."_

"_Wow," Rosalie murmured, finally raising her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes were cold and hard as they bored into me, and I realised that somewhere I had overstepped the mark._

"_I... I'm sorry..." I stuttered, beginning to walk backwards towards the door in my sudden urge to reach Spanish class, "this is none of my business."_

_Too late. Rosalie closed the distance between us in three long strides and grabbed a fistful of my hair in one hand, yanking my head roughly to one side._

"_How dare you," she spat, her nose inches away from my face, "you fucking liar!"_

"_I..." I choked out, unsure of how to respond and in pain from the grip she had on my hair, "it's the truth."_

"_No, no way," she screeched, tugging hard on my hair and causing me to yelp in pain. "I don't believe you. You're making this up... you and that bitch Jessica Stanley... you're just trying to break me and Em up... you're all pathetic, jealous little losers with nothing better to do."_

"_I'm sorry," I repeated, my eyes widening and tears beginning to brim as I realised that Rosalie's wrath had suddenly become redirected. _

"_You will be," she snarled, releasing me and shoving me backwards in one fluid movement. My back struck the wall and my breath rushed from my lungs, causing me to cough uncontrollably. I forced my trembling legs to allow me to remain standing and stared at Rosalie in confusion._

"_I will make you so fucking sorry you'll be begging your parents for another transfer," she stated, her words dripping with malice. Casting a backwards glance at me, Rosalie swept her bag from the counter and swung it up onto her shoulder. I barely registered the soft swish of the door as it swung closed again, signifying her exit._

_I never did make it to Spanish class. _

_x-x-x_

My teeth gritted as I recalled my first exchange with Rosalie Cullen, self proclaimed princess of PVH. She had been as good as her word, ensuring that practically every day that had followed had been filled with ridicule and torment for me. Mere hours later I had watched her walk down the corridor with Emmett on her arm, chattering happily to Alice who bounced along beside her without a care in the world. I had pressed myself against my locker, hoping to blend in with the grey metal, but all three had shot me a simultaneous glare that had made my blood run cold. Seconds later, Emmett had flung a can of soda in my face whilst the rest of the students pointed and laughed. It was the first of many incidents that were too numerous for me to recall each one. They had included my head being flushed down a toilet, the stick insects from Biology being released in my locker, and my bag being stuffed with stink bombs that had simultaneously deployed when I dropped it onto the floor in English.

Shaking my head, I hazarded another glance at Edward who remained sleeping. He had never really entered into the teasing to give him credit, but neither had he attempted to put a stop to it despite being wholly aware of the situation. I supposed that I was not his responsibility but I felt that to an extent reigning in Rosalie should have been.

Although my information had been ill received, I had only been trying to help. I had wondered at the time how I would have felt if the rumours had concerned Jake and some girl, and decided that I would definitely wish to know about any infidelities on his part. I guessed that Rosalie preferred to remain blinkered on the other hand, and not to sully her perfect existence with such confusing betrayals.

The blaring of a car horn wrenched me abruptly from my reverie and I glanced out of the windscreen in time to see a petrol truck careering head on towards the Aveo. The headlights were near blinding and bright spots danced before my eyes.

I realised that somehow in my semi-conscious state I had allowed the car to swerve into the wrong lane and was now facing the oncoming traffic, which had failed to be a problem until now. A scream rose in my throat but never quite made it to the surface as suddenly I felt a second pair of hands on the wheel. For a moment I fought against the strong and persistent tugging, until a harshly barked string of profanities cut through me like a knife.

"Let go of the fucking wheel, Bella!" Edward yelled, his body pinning my own back against my seat. Without a word, I complied and my hands went slack on the steering wheel.

Tyres screeched in protest, adding to the din that the truck's horn was creating. The scream I had been threatening finally spilled from my lips, loud and bloodcurdling, just as the car reached the relative safety of the side of the road. Brain finally engaging, my foot pumped the brake as we hurtled down a steep embankment that had been concealed in the darkness. Behind us, the truck thundered past, barely missing the tail end of the car.

We rolled to a stop, the engine cutting out with a whine and my breathing coming in ragged, panicked gasps. I shot a look at Edward, who was peering at me wearing an expression that I thought almost bordered on concern.

His voice trembling only slightly, he finally asked in a breathy rush, "My turn to drive?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

**Chapter Four**

'**Kicking the Habit'**

_**Bella's POV**_

I had categorically refused to allow Cullen access to the keys to my Mom's car and so, as a kind of compromise, I had agreed that we would spend the remainder of the night in a rest stop. I was fairly certain this was illegal but decided that it was preferable to ploughing us into oncoming traffic.

We sat in the back of the Aveo, our knees curled into our chests as we talked, passing back and forth a cigarette that Cullen had assured me would 'calm my nerves'. So far, all it had succeeded in doing was leaving a bitter taste in my mouth and causing me to almost cough up a lung. Still, I took a long drag, spluttered a little, and then handed it to Edward.

"I can't believe you nearly killed me," Cullen repeated for the fifth time since the car had stopped. I rolled my eyes and flicked a piece of lint at him, refusing to rise to the bait. Cullen smiled and wound down the car window to dispose of the remains of the cigarette.

"So, Seattle huh?" I probed, examining my nails nonchalantly. So far Cullen had offered me little information about his decision to move to Seattle other than some cock and bull story about a cousin who was apparently the next Jimi Hendrix.

"Uh huh," he replied, his responding smile somewhat guarded. His eyes narrowed, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. Swallowing hard, I turned to stare out of the window, unnerved by the effect his eyes had begun to have on me.

"I told you why I'm going to Forks," I said, hazarding a glance at Cullen who was examining his fingernails anyway. "It's only fair. And not that BS story about starting a band."

I almost laughed out loud at the expression he shot me; wounded, like a puppy that had just been kicked.

"You didn't buy that one, huh?" he asked, chuckling as he shook his head at the dubious look that I wore. I smiled, then settled back against the seat to hear what Cullen had to say, sure that the story would be entertaining.

"So what do you want to know?" He crossed his arms in front of his body in an oddly protective gesture that seemed strange on him. I frowned.

"Well, let's start with the real reason you're headed to Seattle instead of spending the summer with your family before college starts."

"They're not my family," Culled replied, his voice hardening. I blinked in surprise.

"Family feud?" I guessed, more sympathetic and gentle than I was sure I had ever been before when addressing Cullen.

"No, they're not my family. I'm adopted."

I blinked, stunned into total silence. I felt a familiar blush creep across my cheeks and I realised that I was embarrassed. It was so like me to pick the touchy subject for discussion.

"Sorry," I murmured, unsure of how else to articulate what I was now feeling. Cullen's eyebrows shot up simultaneously and he reached out, brushing his fingertips against my knee. His touch was fleeting and my jeans prevented him from connecting with actual skin, but nonetheless my entire body tingled. I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable, and edged a little further out of Edward's reach. He appeared not to notice or, if he did, he didn't call me on it.

"Nah, you didn't know," Edward said after a pause, "hell, I didn't even know up until about a year ago."

"Your pare..." I trailed off, struggling to correct my almost botched sentence, "Esme and Carlisle never told you? That must have been... rough."

Edward shook his head, "They figured it was something I didn't need to know, until I started asking questions and some things didn't make sense anymore. Like how there's a heap of pictures of Rose and Mo-... Esme, in the hospital when she was born, but none of me. And how they'd never let me see my birth certificate. The biggest giveaway was when I found some old photos of them on holiday in St. Lucia. Esme should have been seven months pregnant with me at the time. She was wearing a bikini and looking kind of hot for a woman about to pop a kid."

"That's awful," I said quietly, unsure of how to react to this news.

Edward merely shrugged, beginning to finger a hole in the knees of his jeans.

"I'd like to say I'm over it," he said finally, his eyes glistening in a tell tale fashion in the light cast from the highway, "but I think we both know that's a lie."

"People get over things in their own time," I replied, "and some never get over their issues. No one has the right to tell you how you should feel."

Edward glanced up at me sharply, taken aback by the bitter edge to my tone that I was all too aware was present. He appeared to want to question me but something stopped him, and for a moment I was sorry it did.

"So, Seattle," I ventured, licking my suddenly dry lips. Edward nodded once.

"My birth mother was a friend of Esme's," he explained, a strange half smile forming on his lips as he spoke, "they met in college. A couple years after graduation, she comes to Esme six months pregnant by a guy she met in a bar. She didn't even know his name. Said she owed people money, was into drugs, and had no place to live."

"Did Esme and Carlisle try to help her?" I asked, enthralled by Edward's story almost as though it were some drama I was watching unfold on a soap opera.

"They offered her somewhere to stay and to help her find a job but she wasn't real interested," Edward murmured, turning to stare out of the windscreen as he spoke, "so they offered her another solution. They would take the baby and raise it as their own, and she got to walk away to live the rest of her life. Esme didn't think she could have children so I guess it seemed like her only chance at the time."

"Did they ever hear from her again?" I asked, my hand creeping forwards and entwining itself with Edward's. He peered down at our interlaced fingers with surprise but when he spoke his tone was nothing but neutral, although he squeezed my hand.

"She wrote to them every month until I turned four, then all of a sudden nothing," Edward said, "the last letter she sent was from a house in Seattle. She said she'd cleaned up, met someone, gone back to school... she didn't even mention me once."

I wanted desperately to ask Edward what he was doing then. Why he was seeking out a woman that had handed him over to a friend rather than suffer the inconvenience of raising him. What kind of mother could give her baby away as though it were last season's jacket? Suddenly, his earlier comments about Jake made a world of sense.

Instead, I asked, "You think she'll still be there?"

Edward paused, deep in concentration. After a moment, he shrugged and then a mere second later shook his head as though his own mind was in turmoil over what he might find.

"I don't know," he answered, and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "but if I don't try then I'll spend the rest of my life wondering."

I nodded as if I understood although I could never truly hope to. Despite falling pregnant with me at a young age, Renee had never once regretted my existence or acted as anything less than a doting parent.

"What do the Cullens think about this?" I inquired, although I thought that I already knew the answer to my question. I had not seen Edward make or receive a single call during the entire journey. I had contacted both Renee and Charlie several times respectively using my cell, but Edward had not so much as sent a text message.

"They were pretty mad," he said, eyes growing cold, "they can't understand why I would want to find her after she abandoned me. Carlisle threatened to cancel all my cards and my cell contract if I went, so I promised I wouldn't and then withdrew as much cash as I could before you picked me up."

"Oh," I whispered, my eyes suddenly filling with tears as I realised just how much Edward wanted this, and just how much I had misjudged him. He flashed me a smile then which I struggled to return with my bottom lip quivering hopelessly. I dug around in my pocket and retrieved the bill that Edward had presented me with earlier. Determined, I pushed it towards him, ignoring the protests I was met with.

"Take it," I commanded, pushing Edward's hand away as he tried to slip the note back into my pocket, "I don't need it. Not really."

"So you were just being a bitch then?" he questioned, his expression deadpan but his eyes dancing in a mischievous manner. With a half smile, I nodded.

"I do that a lot I guess," I said, a blush rising on my cheeks as I considered the way I had treated my poor mother and Phil over the last twelve months.

"I don't believe that," Edward murmured, his body suddenly seeming inches closer to mine than it had been just a second ago. With surprise, and the faintest sense of dread, I realised that I no longer objected to his proximity.

"You'd better," I countered, my breathing erratic as Edward closed the distance between us. My back was pressed against the door of the car, the handle digging into my spine, as Edward hovered over me. Slowly, he lowered his head towards mine and before I really knew what was happening, his soft, slightly moist lips were brushing my own in a kiss that was surprisingly tender. My fingers crept to the back of his neck, forcing him closer, and then swept upwards to entangle in his hair. Edward continued to kiss me and I returned the gesture with hungry passion.

However, as Edward's hand slid from my cheek to caress my bare collarbone, something in me snapped like an elastic-band. I twisted my face away from Edward's and pushed him back with surprising force. We broke apart, panting, my eyes wild and his hurt.

"I'm sorry..." he breathed, running one hand through his hair and shaking his head as though to dispel a fog. I nodded, my fingertips touching my lips where I could still taste Edward. I groaned softly, closed my eyes, and shook my head.

"No, I'm sorry," I whispered, fat tears beginning to slide down my cheeks now and splash onto the front of my shirt. "I gave you the wrong impression. I should never have kissed you back. I don't want this... Jake..."

Edward nodded, holding up one hand to signify his understanding, but I could see the disappointment reflected in his eyes. My hand reached down underneath the driver's seat and as I felt my fingers close around cool wood, I gave a sharp tug. Edward watched as I pulled the mahogany box free and dropped it onto his knee without a word. He gazed down at the box, his long fingers caressing the intricately carved border and the impression of two wolves baying at the moon that dominated the centre.

"This is... extraordinary..." said Edward, his eyes roving every millimetre of the box in appreciation for the craftsmanship that had gone into it. I recalled the first time I had laid eyes on it and the eager look on Jake's face as he awaited my verdict. I had of course been thrilled with the gift. It had been the night before I had returned to Phoenix; the night that we had finally given into our more carnal desires. I had hated my mother all the more in the morning when I awoken, wrapped in the warmth of Jake's arms.

"Jake made it for me," I explained, feeling faintly nauseas as I thought of my boyfriend and the way I had betrayed him only minutes ago.

"You can tell he cares a great deal for you," Edward said, glancing up at me with a saddened smile that I knew I was in part responsible for. "It's easy to see why."

I chuckled, wondering what Edward could possibly see in me since I had barely been civil to him throughout the entire journey. It had literally taken him to save my life before I would even admit to myself that the guy wasn't half bad.

Flipping the lid of the box open, Edward began to leaf through the contents. I did not object; simply watching mutely as Edward fingered the stack of letters that sat on the top of the box.

"Man, there must be a hundred letters here," Edward muttered, picking up the first letter he touched and raising it to eye level. " _'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_. Deep."

"243 letters. One for every day we were apart. He was always doing that," I explained, grinning as I took the letter that Edward offered me and ran my fingertips lightly over Jake's spidery scrawl. "Sending me quotes from songs, or books, things he thinks we can relate to. I guess he just..."

"I get it," Edward interjected as he watched me replace the letter and slam the lid of the box closed. "And I'm sorry, love. Really."

"Why do you do that?" I asked, replacing the box and folding my hands across my stomach. Edward cocked his head to one side and I realised that he had no clue as to what I was referring. "Why do you call me 'love'? I mean, it's so..."

"Sexy?" Edward supplied, waggling his thick eyebrows in a manner that only made me collapse into helpless giggles. I shook my head.

"Geriatric," I offered, "you sound like an old man or something."

"Ok, an impulse I guess I'll try to curb from now on," Edward replied, laughing as he dug a candy bar out of his pocket and tore into the wrapper. He broke off a chunk and handed it to me. I accepted the candy gratefully and shoved it into my mouth whole, half closing my eyes as the chocolate began to melt on my tongue. Food had not crossed my lips since I had shovelled down half a bag of chips at a gas station. I was aware of the faintly orgasmic moans escaping my mouth but was powerless to stop them. It was embarrassing to say the least.

"You're extra cute when you make that face," Edward quipped, biting off a sizeable chunk of candy and winking at me. I shot him a pointed yet only half serious glare before reaching towards him and attempting to swipe the rest of the bar. Edward pulled his arm out of reach just in time, and my fingers closed around thin air.

"Asshole," I accused, a warm smile spread across my lips.

"Priss," Edward shot back, making a show of licking melted chocolate from his fingers. "This is so good!"

"Jerk," I said.

"Bitch," Edward laughed, popping the last chunk of candy into his mouth and imitating my own previous 'yummy' face before he swallowed it down.

The trading of insults continued until the sun rose and, with our bodies entangled under Edward's leather jacket, we both finally succumbed to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

**Chapter Five**

'**Destination'**

_**Edward's POV**_

The sound of passing traffic on the highway had woken me a little after ten. Bella slept on, her cheek resting against my chest and a thin line of drool on her chin. Despite that, she still looked beautiful; perfect porcelain skin and slightly parted rosebud lips with thick mahogany hair curling around her shoulders. I watched her for a while before I realised that such behaviour would probably creep a girl out more than turn her on. It had taken me all of five seconds to fish her car keys from her pocket and by the time we were cruising towards the interstate again Bella was still comatose in the back.

Every so often I would shoot her a glance through the rear view mirror, mostly to make sure she wasn't looming over the back of my seat about to strangle me with her shoelace or something. We had travelled a good hour and I had just gotten the heap on wheels nicely broken in when Bella sat bolt upright on the backseat. I sighed but kept my eyes on the traffic.

"What the hell?" she gasped, her eyes wildly sweeping the car.

"Morning sleeping beauty," I said cheerfully, not loving the cliché but deciding it would do at a push. Bella glared at me and her nostrils flared.

"Pull over Edward," she demanded, and I smiled noting that she had dropped the use of my surname entirely now. That had to be a good sign.

"On the interstate?" I asked, feigning shock, "gee, I don't think that's the safest..."

"Pull over!" she yelled, slamming both fists against the back of my seat and causing me to jerk forwards with the impact. I practically snarled as I turned to stare at her.

"Pop a freakin' Midol," I retorted, wincing as Bella slapped me across the back of my head so hard there was an audible crack.

"This is my Mom's car," she hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously at me. I shrugged and made no move to either let up on the gas or pull over into a rest stop.

"So you think slapping me across the back of the head is going to make me a better driver?" I quipped, enjoying the despairing look that crossed her face. I laughed and shook my head, "Relax would you Bella? I'm not going to total your Mom's car. I just thought you could use a rest."

"Thanks," she grumbled, sighing in defeat as she realised that I was not about to give up my place in the driver's seat. I had always hated being the passenger even as a kid. There was a sense of freedom that came with driving that seemed to make my problems, no matter how significant, seem to mean that much less. I needed the distraction.

"Once more with feeling," I said. Bella ignored me and clambered into the front passenger seat, snapping her belt into place and shooting me a final death glare that I deflected with a grin.

"You sound like your sister," she accused, folding her arms and pretending to stare out of the side window. I could see the trepidation in her face reflected in the glass.

"Not my sister, remember," I replied, and Bella turned back to me, her cheeks reddening.

"Sorry," she muttered. I shrugged and allowed a smile to spread across my lips.

"I'm not," I answered, "that girl's not _a_ bitch, she's _the_ bitch."

We laughed and for a moment the tension was gone. It wasn't long though before Bella was staring at me again like a rabbit in the headlights, and I knew she was thinking of Rose. It had been common knowledge at PVH that Rosalie despised Bella; she rarely bothered masking her true feelings. I had never been exactly clear as to what had been the cause of the trouble but it reeked of that loser Neanderthal Emmett, who liked to hang out at our house at weekends and steal Scotch from Carlisle's liquor cabinet.

"I'm sorry she gave you such a hard time," I said quietly, pretending to be immersed in switching lanes. I casually flipped the bird at some old lady who almost veered into the side of us, and Bella smirked as she caught the gesture.

"It wasn't your fault," she replied, shrugging and attempting to appear nonchalant about the matter. Her expression gave her away, however.

"No, but I guess I could have done a little more to stop her," I answered truthfully, wondering why I had never confronted Rosalie over her behaviour. I had watched a sobbing and hysterical Bella flee to the safety of the girl's bathroom on more than one occasion and, although I had hated Rosalie for the way she behaved, the truth was I was as scared as the rest of them to intervene. My status at PVH was secured only by my parentage, and I was not naive enough to think otherwise. Rosalie on the other hand was queen bee material, and the student body flocked after her like the mindless drones they were.

"You had other things to think about," Bella said, casting her eyes downwards and forcing a smile. "Besides, what doesn't kill you..."

"Sometimes makes you reach for the razor blades yourself?" I finished in a tight voice. Bella shot me a surprised look, her eyes widening with an emotion that I found myself unable to read.

"It wasn't your fault," Bella promised, reaching across and giving my knee a reassuring pat. I nodded once but did not smile, comforted only by the fact that for the next hundred miles Bella's hand remained in place.

x-x-x

**Bella's POV**

By the time we reached Seattle, I was comfortable with two things I never would have thought possible; the fact that Edward Cullen was driving my Mom's car, and the fact that I would miss him when he no longer was. I contemplated the latter for a long time, wondering when exactly I had come to look on Edward in a more favourable light. I failed to pinpoint the exact moment and instead settled for being pleased that we had overcome our differences. I knew that on his part at least it was more than this, but that was something that I could not bring myself to think about.

We drove the remaining ten miles in complete silence, with not even the radio for company. I held Edward's hand tight and he steered with the other, but the roads were mostly straight anyway. He kept his speed to a crawl and for a while I assumed that he was cautious of being in a residential area. I soon came to realise that he was no longer in any hurry to get where he was going.

It took us half an hour to drive what should have been no more than fifteen minutes, but I said nothing on the matter. Edward pulled the car over in front of a tall townhouse that looked to have been recently converted into flats. The outside of the house was painted pale blue and there was a trail of large plastic butterflies stuck to the outer wall. Edward was eyeing them with visible disdain.

"Is this it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Edward suddenly dropped my hand as though my touch was scorching him and turned to affix me with a puzzled stare.

"Huh?" he murmured, his eyes drawn once more to the house. The front yard was littered with objects that I had to squint against the sunlight to make out; a rake, a folded lawn chair, and what looked like an overturned child's tricycle.

"Is this your Mom's house?" I inquired, laying my hand on Edward's shoulder and watching him attentively. He remained unmoving as a whole minute ticked by. Finally, he spoke.

"Thanks for the ride Bella," he said quietly, reaching into the back seat and retrieving both his jacket and duffel. I blinked in surprise and stared at Edward with my mouth open. As though on autopilot, he gathered his belongings and opened the car door.

"Wait!" I called, scooting over into the driver's seat as Edward climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind him. Thankfully, the window was already down. Edward turned, smiling ever so slightly at the image of me half hanging out of the window.

"I really appreciate this Bella," he said, the intensity of his gaze almost taking my breath away. I nodded.

"I could... I mean, I could come with you," I offered in a rush, feeling my neck and cheeks begin to grow hot, "for moral support."

Edward paused, seeming to mull over my offer for a moment, before finally taking two steps back towards the car. Quickly, he leaned towards me and before I could react brushed a kiss onto my left cheek.

"Go be with your boyfriend," Edward murmured.

I stared at him, stunned. Edward had gathered his belongings up again by the time I had recovered myself and, with a smile and a gesture that vaguely resembled a salute, he began to walk backwards towards the house.

"Have a good life Isabella Swan," he called, running one hand through his hair and then tugging his sunglasses down over his eyes. I raised my hand in a gesture of farewell and waggled my fingers at Edward as I watched him disappear into the overgrown yard. I knew that this would likely be the last time I would ever see Edward Cullen.

The moment I had been waiting for since leaving Phoenix had finally arrived, and I had not found myself more miserable in a long time.

x-x-x

The drive to Forks was uneventful and I managed it in barely three hours. My mind was on Jacob the whole time, although every so often thoughts of Edward managed to worm their way into my subconscious; his easy laugh, the scent of cigarette smoke and aftershave that clung to him, and the way his brow creased when he smiled. The images were unwelcome yet relentless, and I was worried by the way that just the memory of Edward's face could cause me to question my plans to such an extent. For over three months I had kept my decision for my future a secret from everyone I had loved, and anyone else that dared question me over it. But my plans were laid and already set in motion, and I could not allow anything to derail them now- for Jake's sake if nothing else.

I had known that I was nearing Forks before I had even encountered a sign. The rain was driving hard and the sound of it connecting with the windowpane was near deafening. I had not thought to bring a suitable coat with me from Phoenix since the weather there rarely called for one, but I knew that this fact hardly mattered.

I drove through the town, noting that several stores had closed down since my departure and new ones opened up in there place. Among them was the small diner that Jake and I had eaten in for our six month anniversary, and then again when our relationship reached a year old. I smiled as the memories flowed. Forks had always had this effect on me.

I spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd but none recognised my mother's car, and so I was able to slip through the town virtually undetected. I reached Charlie's house after only a few minutes and killed the engine of the Aveo just off the drive. I noted that the police cruiser was absent, which was hardly surprising since Charlie favoured overtime when alone. I knew from our emails and brief phone calls that he had missed having me with him. He would never say as much because Charlie was a man of few words and little emotion, but I could tell nonetheless. He had often remarked that things were 'quiet' without me around, and I knew without a doubt that the word was a poor substitute for another.

The Chevy was nowhere in sight and I realised that Charlie must have been as good as his word, keeping my beloved truck out back covered by a tarp to protect it from the elements. For a long while in my absence Jake had taken the truck on a weekly run to ensure that the engine kept ticking over as it should. When he was no longer able, and Charlie was too busy, my truck had been left to decay.

I stared at the window that had belonged to my old room for a while, recalling the evenings that Jake and I had spent entwined on my bed, just reading or listening to music. Charlie never minded or insisted as some parents would that the door be left open; he trusted us both implicitly. An ironic smile played across my lips. I knew that it was better this way but at the same time I could not help but be a little sad at the fact that Charlie had missed my last goodbye.

I turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life, startling me now that the din of the falling rain had subsided. There was a break in the clouds above and a faint patch of sunlight attempting to push through. With a resolute frown, I pulled away from the curb and headed toward the final stop on my journey.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ficawesome Gift Exchange- TAKE 2**

**Title: **_Miles to Go_

**Written for: **_Skychaser_

**Rating: **T for language and themes

**Prompt: **_'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_

**Summary: **_Bella Swan is about to embark upon a road trip to rainy Forks, Washington, to visit her boyfriend Jake when on a whim she offers a lift to a hitch hiker. Little does Bella know that this man will alter not only her views of the world but ultimately, her future. AU and AH. _

**If you would like to see all the stories that are part of this exchange then please visit the Facebook group Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps.**

**Warning – Some readers may find some content of the following chapter upsetting. Contains themes of suicide. **

**Chapter Six**

'**Hello, Goodbye'**

_**Bella's POV**_

The rain had started up again and I was aware of my entire body trembling as water seeped through my thin shirt. I paid no attention to the cold now though, instead concentrating on simply reaching my destination without being spotted. I stayed away from the road and, where this proved impossible, I used the foliage to hide myself. The ascent was difficult but I knew that it would be worth it in the end. I ignored the protests from my burning lungs and aching calves, and tackled the cliff face with my head bowed against the elements.

La Push beach had been one of Jacob's favourite places. We had walked barefoot together on the sand so many times and in the spring had even caught glimpses of the grey whales. I had tried to photograph them once but my camera was uncooperative and instead all that I managed to capture was a blurred mass in the centre of the ocean. Jake had chuckled at my efforts and yet he had kept the picture pinned to the notice board in his room as a reminder of the day. It was one of the few things I had left of him now.

"_Bella, honey..." Renee murmured, her cheeks streaked with tears and her robe pulled tight across her swollen belly, "there's been an accident."_

I should never have stayed out so late. When I finally pulled up in the driveway at gone midnight to find Renee and Phil waiting for me in the porch with all the lights on, I had anticipated a world of trouble. I had gotten just that, except not in the ways I had expected.

"_Charlie? Dad?" I hissed, gripping Renee's hands for support. "Is he ok?" My breathing had grown erratic and my heart pounded furiously in my ears. I noticed Phil standing in the corner, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes trained to the floor. He looked uncomfortable and yet saddened at the same time. Not Charlie, my logic told me._

I had missed what would have been his final call. I had been at the house of a girl who could be describes less as a friend and more as a convenience. I had all but forgotten her full name now, but she had been a shy, quiet girl who had even less of a fan club than me. We had been working on a bio lab together and I had been finding to my surprise that I was having a reasonably good time. I recalled that she was sweet and funny and even witty once the evening had got underway.

"_I am so sorry Bella..." Renee choked out, her fingers digging painfully into my arm as she attempted to prevent my descent to the ground. "There was a truck... your Dad said it all happened so quickly..."_

If only I had not stayed that extra hour to order pizza with a girl I barely knew, let alone liked. If I had just been there to take his call then we certainly would have been talking for the remainder of the night, and he would never have gotten on that stupid fucking bike. The driver of the truck had been underage and loaded to boot. Jake on his reconditioned Harley, out on a late grocery run, had not stood a chance when Tyler Crowley had swerved so abruptly into his lane.

"_No... it's not true..." I shrieked, wrenching myself free from Renee's grip and backing down the porch steps, tears spilling from my eyes, "you're lying... you're lying to me... why would you lie to me?"_

I cradled the box closer to my chest, almost hugging it for some comfort. There was no grave for me to visit, no physical representation of what had been. Billy had insisted on cremation and Jake's ashes had been scattered to the wind somewhere on the reservation. I had been invited to the ceremony, an honour for a 'pale face' given that I would one day have been Jake's wife, but I could not bring myself to attend. Instead, I had stolen cash from Renee's purse and gone on an epic drinking binge that had led to a visit to the Emergency Room. When Renee and Phil had arrived at the hospital to collect me, they had barely said a word. They had looked disappointed to say the least, tired, and suddenly old. It was then that I had formed my plan, if only to end the suffering I was putting them through with my grief.

"_Phil, stop her!" Renee pleaded, her chest wracked with sobs as I buried my head in my hands, gripping tight to my hair and yanking it out in great clumps. "Bella... baby stop..."_

I took a shaky breath as I finally broke through the trees at the top of the cliff. Once, Jake and I had watched some kids from the reservation leaping headfirst into the roiling waters below. I had screamed, thinking that they would surely kill themselves, but through his laughter Jake had explained the premise behind cliff diving.

"_Isn't it dangerous?" I gasped, feeling the persistent thrum of my heart beating against my ribcage. Jake chuckled and slung an arm around my shoulder, drawing me tight into his shoulder._

"_Of course. To anyone that doesn't know what they're doing, the current is lethal. But these guys have spent so much time at La Push, they practically have gills."_

We were going to be married. Jake had been saving what little he could put by from his wages at the garage, and he had already begun to broach the subject of his mother's ring with Billy. Jake's sole condition was that I finish high school in Phoenix first before joining him in Forks. I would attend college somewhere close enough to commute, and we would live with Billy until our finances allowed for anything better.

All our carefully laid plans were gone now; dust, like Jake. The very idea tore my heart to ribbons.

"_We'll always be together Belles..." Jake breathed, laying his forehead gently against my own. Beneath him, I shuddered as his hand brushed my naked thigh and then moved slowly to caress my hip. He was treating me like I was fragile, all too aware that every nerve in my body was screaming with fear. _

"_Always," I promised, smoothing my fingertips across his bare stomach and sliding my hand towards the line of buttons on the crotch of his jeans. _

I opened the box carefully, wary of the wind that was rising around me. The letter on the top fluttered and the line that Edward had read aloud in the car caught my eye. _'The distance from A to where you'd Be is only finger lengths that I see'_.

Except now, the distance between us was so vast that it was immeasurable. Not mere millimetres on some painted globe, but the entirety of the stars and all that lay beyond- if anything at all. Fat tears slid down my cheeks but I made no move to brush them away. Jake had always claimed a great sense of serenity descended upon him when he was standing on the cliff at La Push, looking down at spirit's great miracles. I felt only the stabbing pain of loss, and the fear that comes with the possibility of never seeing the one you love again.

I took a step towards the edge of the cliff face, and then another.

"_I want a big wedding," I said, a smile curving my lips upwards. Jake raised an eyebrow and continued to work on the sketch that had occupied him for the past hour. His fingers moved rapidly over the pad and for a moment I was transfixed by the fluidity of his movements. I could see my own face emerging on the pad as a consequence of his pencil strokes, and his talent amazed me._

My thoughts were so disjointed that I struggled to make sense of them, but I continued to edge towards the cliff even despite this. The wind seemed to be almost encouraging me as it buffeted my body from behind, sweeping me along a little.

"_I love you Belles," Jake whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips and drawing back to regard me. My cheeks had flushed crimson but I could not look away from Jake's gaze. He loved me; Jacob Black loved me, and I was hearing it for the first time. _

I closed my eyes as the toe of my left shoe touched thin air. My tears were coming faster now, increasing with my heart rate.

"Jake..." I murmured, my voice catching on a sob. I wanted to tell him that I missed him; that every second I had faced without him had been more unbearable and agonising than the last. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I loved him, and that the passage of time was ineffectual on my feelings. I wanted to yell at him for leaving me to face the future without him, and most of all I wanted to feel close to him once again.

I was sure there would be peace at least, even if there was no Jake, and so I resigned myself to the fact that my next step forwards would be my last.

My foot touched nothing and my knees buckled as a result. I felt my body being dragged downwards by the force of gravity and I did not resist.

"Bella!"

The cry came out of nowhere. I was too far gone in my plan to react even if I had desired to and so instead I simply made a silent hope that whoever was watching me was not someone that cared a great deal for my life. I waited for the whistling of the wind as it grazed my falling body, and was shocked when this never came.

A hand had closed around my wrist, knocking the box from my arms and sending it tumbling onto the rocks below. I opened my eyes and gazed downward, watching Jake's letters float towards the water's surface where they would be swallowed up. My last memories of him had been scattered to the wind.

"Let me go!" I yelled, fury seeping from my every pore as I used my free hand to attack my misguided saviour. The wind whipped my hair into my eyes and obscured my vision, but I felt my body being hauled with little effort back onto the cliff face and I was enraged.

"Let me go!" I repeated in a scream. My feet barely touched the floor as I was dragged towards a body who restrained me with ease, allowing me to writhe and struggle without saying a word. I was behaving like a lunatic in my bid to escape and yet I did not care anymore.

"Shhhh," the familiar voice soothed, and in the next instant as my broken sobs escaped me I felt myself being pulled into a solid chest. A hand stroked my hair, smoothing it around me, but I did not react beyond attempting to catch my breath. I sank to the damp ground and strong arms accompanied me, holding me and soothing me as best as they could. When my tears subsided, the wind had finally died down and so I pulled away from the stranger's embrace.

I stared up into Edward's green eyes, astonished. His expression was pained, like he was desperately attempting to make sense of the situation at hand but failing. He reached a shaking hand towards me and brushed my tears from my cheeks, frowning as I shied away from his touch.

"Are you fucking crazy?" he demanded, although his tone was a gentle contrast to his words. I nodded and sank back onto the ground, pulling my knees into my chest.

"Why couldn't you just let me go?" I whispered, fresh tears springing to my eyes as I turned an accusatory gaze upon Edward. His lip curled back into a sneer and he jabbed a finger under my chin.

"Are you really that selfish?" he snarled, no longer reigning in his anger. I blanched at his tone but remained unmoving, allowing him to continue, "What about your parents? Did you think of them at all in this? What about your baby brother? Don't you want him to know his sister? What... what about me, Bella?"

I glanced sharply at Edward, my eyes narrowing to slits.

"You don't know what it's like," I said, shaking my head, "you don't know what it feels like to lose the one person you love more than anything in the world."

"You think you're the only one to ever lose somebody?" Edward asked, running one hand through his hair in a despairing gesture. "It doesn't take a genius to work out it's hard, or that you're in pain... but there are other ways... better ways than _this_, Bella."

I made no move to respond, my teeth beginning to chatter now as my sodden clothes pressed against my skin. Noticing my discomfort, Edward removed his leather jacket and draped it around my shoulders before settling himself beside me. He reached for my hand, gripping it tight in his lap, and I allowed him to.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Edward said softly, stroking his thumb across the back of my hand. I shrugged and then realised that Edward was no longer looking at me to note the gesture.

"I don't know," I responded, instead. "How did you..."

"I knew something wasn't right," Edward interjected, saving me the embarrassment of finishing my question. "I never would have guessed this... I kind of thought you were coming back to get revenge on a cheating ex or something."

"What?" I said, an amused smile playing across my lips for a moment. I was sure they were beginning to turn blue.

"You said that you and Jake were apart over a year," Edward murmured, turning to face me again, "you said he wrote to you every day. There were only 243 letters. I'm no math brain but something didn't quite add up there."

"Oh," was my only faint reply.

For a few minutes, we sat in silence, neither of us moving despite the chill in the air and the fact that my clothes were sopping wet from the earlier rain.

"Did you find your Mom?" I asked finally, resting my head against Edward's shoulder and sighing as he encircled me in his arms. He seemed to have been waiting for the green light to make contact with me, and I knew that his feelings had begun to extend beyond mere friendship.

Edward rested his chin against the crown of my head before he spoke, gazing off into the distance with a thoughtful expression darkening his features.

"I think I did," he replied, "I guess I still don't know."

"You didn't knock?" I demanded, pulling free from his embrace and slapping him across the arm as he shook his head.

"Hey, you try to throw yourself off a cliff and I'm the one getting slapped?" he snapped, massaging the top of his arm and shaking his head at my somewhat skewed logic.

"Why did you leave without seeing her?" I asked. Edward shrugged, clearly reluctant to answer but my frown gave little room for argument on the subject.

"I thought about it," he said, no real emotion present in his tone or expression. "Made it all the way to the front door, considered knocking and then... I just didn't. I turned right around and headed back towards the highway. Hitched all the way here and asked for directions to your Dad's house from the nosey woman in the hardware store. Saw you sitting in your car just staring at the place, so I followed you."

"That's not a reason why," I chided, shivering as the breeze whipped up for a second. Edward held me closer and laid a hesitant kiss on my forehead. My entire body stiffened and he murmured an apology at his sudden thoughtlessness.

"All I could think about was you Bella," he whispered, avoiding my gaze. "I was standing on my mother's doorstep, and I couldn't get you off my mind. Ever since finding out I was adopted, all I've thought about is finding my birth mother; getting to see her and talk to her, ask her if she's ever thought about me too. Then, I have this amazing opportunity right in front of me, but suddenly I don't want it anymore because I can't stop thinking about the girl whose car I hitched a lift in. She left me... you offered to stay."

"I guess maybe you didn't want it as much as you figured," I answered, skirting around the implications in his speech deliberately.

Edward shook his head and a slow, sad smile crept across his lips, "Or maybe I finally found something I wanted more."

I shot Edward a wary gaze. I was beyond tired, and every muscle in my body cried out for rest. It was a conversation that I could not face.

"I'm broken Edward," I said, my voice louder than I had expected. "I can't give you what you want. My heart still belongs to Jake."

"I can wait," Edward promised, his tone more assured than pleading. I blinked in surprise. I had never considered a time when I may feel at peace enough with Jake's absence to consider moving on with my life.

"I..." I faltered, shaking my head from side to side.

Edward held up a placating hand, "I know now is so not the time Bella. I'm not a total ass. I just... I care about you."

I remained silent and before I could even begin to formulate a reply, Edward was speaking again.

"I care about you," he reiterated, "and I can be whatever you need me to be, until you're ready for me to be more. Even if that day never comes, I'll take what I can get."

Swallowing hard, I turned my teary gaze upon Edward, who flashed me a warm smile before caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment.

"I don't know how long that will be in coming," I murmured, "if ever."

"I can wait," Edward promised, and I knew without any doubt that he would. Despite his bravado and reputation, Edward Cullen was as good as his word in many respects.

"Whatever I need you to be?" I inquired, my head cocked to one side as I watched Edward lean eagerly towards me.

"Anything," he said, emphasising each syllable to punctuate his point.

A single tear dripped down my cheek and I affixed Edward with a watery smile.

"How about we start with a friend?"

With a slow nod, Edward captured both of my hands in his own and drew them into his chest.

"I can do that."

Together, we remained until the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. The lapping of the sea against the rocks at the base of La Push cliff was the only sound to punctuate the silence.

It was Edward that suggested gently but firmly that we leave before darkness descended completely and I became victim to hyperthermia. However, despite the constant knot of dread that weighed heavy in my stomach, I left La Push feeling lighter somehow. I had a friend, a concept that had become alien to me in recent months; someone to fight my corner for as long as I wanted or needed.

I had Edward and, although we had travelled far together, in many ways we still had miles to go.

**The End**

**_Skychaser - I hope you enjoyed your gift. _**


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